It's Only Love

Chapter 1 - An introduction pt. 1

Grand Theft Auto

Chase turned in the fetid car seat of the stolen vehicle to see red and blue flashing behind them. His pulse quickened as he threw a panicked look at his brother who was too busy concentrating on not crashing the car to notice him. The sound of sirens flooded his ears, making him feel uneasy and claustrophobic in the heap of junk.

The car turned sharply and suddenly, causing Chase to slam against the inside of the car. Ezra didn't even look at him. The car turned again; however, this time he was unable to keep it under control as they began to slide quickly across the dark road.

The sound of the sirens was quickly closing in on them as the older boy frantically spun the steering wheel in an attempt to get the vehicle to turn. The car began to spin uncontrollably, and Chase crashed against the passenger window. It felt like the world was spinning too fast around him as he struggled to focus his vision. His breaths became short and panicked until the car was finally forced to a violently sudden stop. The side of the vehicle had curled around a concrete lamppost on the edge of the road; the huge impression it formed on the car only just missed where Chase was seated by inches.

Chase finally focused himself long enough to see Ezra running away from the battered junk in which his brother laid, the police offers who had just been pursuing them in the car hot on his heels. He leaned his torso across where his brother had been sat, while still being tightly restricted to his own seat by an uncomfortably grasping seat belt. He felt blood trickle down from his forehead; it was the only sensation he felt across his numb body as his head slowly fell into his arms sprawled along the driver's seat. The world around him slowly faded to and numb silence as he felt his consciousness slipping away from him.

Moments later, Chase was forced awake by hands tightly grasping his forearms; he looked up for an instant but was unable to focus his eyes. A blurred silhouette in reflective clothing leaned closely above him, dragging him by his arms out of the crumpled metal shell of a car. Sirens wailed around him, drowning out the muffled sounds of conversation. Chase could hear their voices, but he couldn't see their faces; everything was a blur to him.

The reflective silhouette, joined by another in matching clad, pulled Chase to his feet. His head was spinning and his body hurt all over; he wasn't sure he could stand up without the support of the blurred strangers.

"Son, are you alright?" came one of them. His voice was soft yet harsh with anger; he must have been a police officer. "Son? What's your name? How old are you? How many fingers am I holding up?" A fountain of questions poured out of the man's mouth.

 "I-" Chase began wearily. His vision was slowly coming back to him. 

 "You what?" the policeman was becoming angry and impatient. 

 "I... I..."  

 "Come on boy, spit it out," It was obvious he was trying to hide his irritation. 

 "I think I'm gonna be sick," he responded before doubling over unsteadily, almost falling over. Suddenly a piercing voice came from behind them, 

 "Chase? Chase?!" came an angered yet worried voice he instantly recognised. 

 "Mom?" Chase,, still bent over, tried to turn around, but his wavering balance got the better of him as he fell on his backside. His head threw itself back slightly before he managed to stabilise himself.  

 "Chase!" his mother hurried towards him, struggling to run in her unnecessarily tall high-heeled shoes. Chase could tell just by her footwear that he had interrupted something important. "Is he drunk?" she was shouting loudly by this point, directing her anger at the two men as they pulled him to his feet again. He mumbled muffled denials, but his head was still in disarray and his words were jumbled and confused.  

 "No ma'am, he's concussed from the, uh, accident." The officer seemed almost as scared of the woman Chase was. He suddenly felt a spike of pain to his head as a nearby car door slammed shut.  

 "Chase Kane!" came a thundering voice that could only be one person.  

 "Dad?" Chase mumbled wearily. 

 "Unfortunately for you," he said. "But you're gonna wish it wasn't when I'm done with you, young man." Chase's stomach turned at the thought of the punishment he would receive. His parents had often been kind with Ezra when he caused trouble, but when he had gone too far or pushed them to the very edge, their father had brought hell itself upon that boy, and Chase knew he would be less than kind to him. 

 "Where's Ezra?" he was so angry he almost spat at the two officers.  

 "He ran, but he didn't get far. He's at the police station now."  

 Without even uttering a thank you, his father turned to his car. Chase looked shakily at his mother, hoping she would be more forgiving. She refused to look at him, and instead turned to one of the officers.  

 "What will happen to him?" Her tone was cold, but Chase recognized a hint of sympathy in her voice.

 "This is his first offence, and he wasn't driving. If he's lucky, he'll get off with a warning." he felt a sense of relief rush over him.  

 "And if he's unlucky?" 

 "No more than a year," they responded. She nodded slightly with a distant look in her eye; it was clear that her thoughts were elsewhere. 

 "We'll follow in the car" she said looking at the ground. Chase wasn't sure who she was talking to, but he was sure she didn't want to associate with either of her sons at that point.

 The police officers dragged the boy towards the car. He stumbled and tripped over his feet as he went - without them holding him up he was sure he would have fallen. They didn't bother handcuffing him as it was obvious in the state he was in that he wouldn't have a chance at getting away.

 The drive to the police station was no longer than half an hour, but for Chase it felt like several hours had passed. He stepped out of the police car with his balance almost perfectly restored, but his head was still tormenting him; he shut his eyes tightly to try and alleviate the pain. One of the officers grabbed his arm and pulled him into the police station just as he heard the familiar sound of his parents' car pulling up. Suddenly his headache seemed to get a lot worse.

 Chase's father went straight to see Ezra, presumably to post his bail. His mother, seemingly more calm, went quickly to comfort her youngest son. 

 "Chase..." she said warmly as she brushed his face with the back of her fingers. Her hand was warm and felt good against Chase's frostbitten cheek. Her eyes began to well up with tears. "What are we going to do with you?" she said, trying to force back the tears. "You can't waste your life like this. You have so much potential, you don't need to follow your brother around and do the stupid stuff he does. He's heading nowhere, and that's where you'll be too if you keep this up" her voice broke as she continued. 

 "I'm sorry," Chase whispered, and he truly meant it. He hated to see his mother upset. 

 "I know," she said softly as a tear streaked down her pale, rosy cheek. She pulled him into a tight hug and suddenly he felt safe in his mother's arms. 

 "I love you Mo-" he was cut off quickly by an angry voice that could have only been his fathers. 

 "You're too soft on them Eleanor," he said sternly. "Let's go."

 "Where's Ezra?" Chase asked nervously. 

 "Zip it. I don't want to hear another word from you, understand?" he responded trying not to raise his voice in public. Chase nodded before following them out of the station.